2016

I've kept this blog, on and off, since 2006. In 2015 I used it to chart daily encounters, images, thoughts and feelings about volcanic basalt/bluestone in Melbourne and Victoria, especially in the first part of the year. I plan to write a book provisionally titled Bluestone: An Emotional History, about human uses of and feelings for bluestone. But I am also working on quite a few other projects and a big grant application, especially now I am on research leave. I'm working mostly from home, then, for six months, and will need online sociability for company!

Friday, January 30, 2009

you welcome the little breath of cool air that comes out from the air-conditioned bank when you withdraw cash from the ATM

the hot air coming out of the bottom of the fridge is heating up your kitchen so much that you think someone left the oven on

you are too scared to turn the fans or the little air-conditioner in the bedroom up too high in case it triggers a black-out in your suburb

and when you think it's better to be riding your bike home at 7.00 at night, when the temperature is still 43, than being stuck on a crowded train platform because the train tracks have buckled in the heat.

and when you know that however bad it is in Melbourne, it's worse in Adelaide

[Update: later that same day: still 43C]

when your sunglasses get almost too hot to wear on your face

when the pavement burns your feet through your sandals

when the thermostat inside the car registers 50C

when the bitumen is breaking up on the roads

and when there are fires on Hoddle St and a bookshop in Carlton, because the air conditioner exploded. Watch this space.

Really looking forward to that cool change they are promising: just 35 tomorrow!

- when 37 seems like a cool change.- when the household uniform becomes a skirt and a bra, despite the fact that you've had a new housemate move in just that week - and she adopts the uniform too.- when a beagle does not want to go for a walk, and doesn't even object to a bath.- when your capsicums and tomatoes roast on the bush.- when every non-native leaf in the neighbourhood burns brown right through (does this mean, ironically, that those plants are now going to starve?)- when even those shops that still have electricity are giving away all their icecream free, because it's melting so fast.- when you don't read anyone's blog entries until the next week because you didn't dare turn on your computer!